Killer tells court of death threats from co-accused

A man jailed for murdering Edward Camilleri on the northern Adelaide outskirts had his life threatened by his alleged accomplice, the South Australian Supreme Court was told.

Steven Zenuni, 21, was jailed for more than a decade after admitting he helped murder Mr Camilleri at Two Wells in April 2011.

Zenuni is giving evidence at the trial of his co-accused, Domenico Antonio Papalia, 30.

The Supreme Court was told Zenuni hit Mr Camilleri on the head with a hammer and Papalia hit him twice more with a sledgehammer before the body was put in the shed at the Two Wells property.

Zenuni told the jury he was afraid of Papalia after the killing because the man threatened to kill both him and his family.

"I was afraid of him. In the days and weeks following the event he, on a number of occasions, threatened myself and my family, at times threatening to hurt us, at times threatening to kill us," the hearing was told.

"There was an occasion where he was in what I will call a good mood, he was smiling. He was laughing about what he called my baby hits on the day. He said that if I wanted to that I could take up killing people as a career."

Zenuni told of threats to his family.

"On one occasion he said 'Do you want me to go visit your dad? Do you want your dad to die?' He never specified how he would make any of those threats reality," Zenuni said.

"At one point he said to me quite a lot 'Do you want the hammer to come out?'"

Zenuni said Papalia told him he had paid someone to help clean up the murder scene because Zenuni had left the property soon after the killing rather than stay to help.

He said Papalia was demanding a few thousand dollars toward the cleaning cost, but offered Zenuni a chance to pay off his debt by selling cocaine for him.

Zenuni said initially he declined, but in fear he later took a few bags to sell, only to have Papalia ask him to return them saying he could not be trusted to keep away from police.